Felicia J. (FeliciaJ) reviewed on 8/16/2005 + 136 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

"The Eagle Catcher" is a stunning debut that made me want to read all the novels in Margaret Coel's mystery series set among the Arapahos on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation.

Father John O'Malley, head of the reservation's Jesuit mission, discovers his friend, tribal chairman Harvey Castle, stabbed to death in his tipi. The evidence points to Harvey's nephew, Anthony, as the killer, but Father John does not believe the young man capable of murder. He joins forces with Vicky Holden, an Arapaho attorney, to clear Anthony's name.

Before long, they find some answers in the tragic past of the Arapaho people, who, defeated and driven from their homes, arrived at the reservation only to be preyed upon by opportunistic white settlers. While writing an Arapaho history, Harvey Castle stumbled on evidence of an old crime so heinous, someone would kill to keep it hidden.

The mystery is compelling and the resolution satisfying, but what really makes this novel shine is its wonderful characters, depiction of Arapaho life and well-drawn Wyoming setting.

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